Taiwan News Quick Take

Staff writer, with CNA

Sun, Mar 02, 2014 - Page 3

SOCIETY

Nap time insufficient: survey

It is not just college students and office workers who lack sufficient sleep — even kindergartners in Taiwan suffer from sleep deprivation, according to a survey published in this month’s issue of the Taiwan Journal of Public Health. Just 11.46 percent of surveyed children between the ages of 3 and 6 get more than the recommended 10 hours of sleep each weekday, with their quality of sleep linked to their caregivers’ age, income and education level, said study author Lo Ming-jae (駱明潔) of National Taichung University of Education. On average, the surveyed young children slept for nine hours and 26 minutes, less than their counterparts in the US, who got about 10-and-a-half hours of sleep per night. However, the findings resemble the sleep patterns of children in Japan, she said.

CRIME

Man held in hammer death

A man has been arrested in the suspected murder of his grandmother, seven years after he allegedly killed his father in a similar manner, police said yesterday. The man, surnamed Lee (李), is said to have a history of mental illness and allegedly attacked his grandmother on Friday, reportedly striking at her head and face with a hammer and stabbing her eyes with a screwdriver in their house in Chiayi, police said. According to police, Lee, 35, woke his mother after the alleged crime. Police said that when they arrived they found the grandmother, 85, dead, and Lee’s face and hands dotted with blood. Lee was arrested in 2007 in the suspected murder of his father with a hammer. He was not indicted, as he was deemed to be in a state of insanity and was ordered to be hospitalized for five years. Lee has been in and out of the hospital for the past two years and two weeks ago his mother arranged for him to come home to spend some time with the family.

AGRICULTURE

Jujube makes Taipei debut

The Kaohsiung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station promoted a new variety of jujube in Taipei yesterday. Station director Huang Te-chang (黃德昌) said the station wants residents of Taipei to have the chance to try the station’s Kaohsiung No. 11 jujube, nicknamed Honey. The fruit is rich in vitamin C and has been dubbed “the fruit of the future,” he said, adding that 100g of jujubes contain 45 to 70 milligrams of vitamin C, twice the amount in limes and four times that found in cherries. Taiwan produces 35,000 tonnes of jujubes every year, exporting about 140 tonnes to China, Canada, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.

CULTURE

‘Kano’ posts NT$14m debut

The Taiwanese baseball film Kano grossed more than NT$14 million (US$462,200) at the box office on its first day in theaters across the nation on Thursday, a result that satisfied its producer. Wei Te-sheng (魏德聖), who coproduced and cowrote the screenplay, said he felt relieved after being informed of the film’s initial box office results. “I can finally relax,” he said. More than 5,000 people attended the film’s official premiere at Lide Baseball Stadium in Greater Kaohsiung on Thursday evening. Named after the Japanese abbreviation for the Chiayi Agriculture and Forestry Public School and set in 1931 when Taiwan was still under Japanese rule, the film depicts the exploits of the school’s baseball team, made up of Japanese players and Taiwanese athletes of both Han Chinese and Aboriginal descent. All of the 2,000 tickets for screenings of the film were snapped up shortly after going on sale.